A 6th grader from Franklin and 10th grader from North Andover cheer up children battling illnesses

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Updated: 6:02 AM CST Jan 27, 2017

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WEBVTT LONCICH,WCVB NEWSCENTER 5.>> TAKE ANUMBER, MY DEAR.TAKE A NUMBER!>> TONIGHT'S FIVE FOR GOOD BESTFRIENDS FROM HANOVER ARE SENDINGSMILES THROUGH THE MAIL FOR KIDSIN THE FIGHT OF THEIRLOVES.>> THESE TERRIFIC YOUNG WOMEN.THEY STARTED THIS EFFORT WITHOUTTHEIR PARENTS EVEN KNOWIN>> WE CANDO PRINCESSES.>> SURE.AWESOME.REPORTER: SIXTHTHESE GIRLS MAY DIFFERIN AGE, BUTTHEY'RE SO ALIKE.FOR ONE, THEY HAVE BIG HEARTS.>> AND WHAT DOES SHE HAVE?REPORTER: RIGHT NOW, THEY'REPUTTING TOGETHER A GIFT FOR ALITTLE GIRL WITH TISSUE CANCER.>> SHE SAID SHE LIKES COLORINGBOOKS AND ANYTHING GIRLIE.REPORTER: THEY NAMEDTHEIREFFORT TO SPREAD CHEER PACKAGESFOR KID FIGHTERS.>> KIDS WITH CANCER, KIDS WITH ADISEASE CALLED SPINAL MUSCULARATROPHY.>> ALL THE PRESENTS THAT YOU GOTME, THANK YOUREPORTER: MELIA MET THEGIRLSWHEN THEY SHOWED UP AT HER 5K.>> SHE HAS A PICTURE OF THEM ATTHERACE.REPORTER: HER DAD DESCRIBES HERBRAVE BATTLE WITH A STAGE4BLASTOMA.>> IT SPREAD FROM THE PRIMARYTUMOR SITE TOHER BONE MARROW TOHER CRANIUM TO HER FEMUR.IT WAS ALLOVER HER BODY.REPORTER: DECLARED CANCER-FREEIN 2012,MELIA IS STILL PART OFAN ONGOING DRUG TRIAL.SHE HAD ONE WORD FOR HOW THESETWOMAKE HER FEEL.>> HAPPY.REPORTER: ONE GIRL WAS TREATEDFOR ATUMOR AS A BABY.>> I WAS LIKE SCARED, BECAUSEYOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNAHAPPEN.REPORTER: SHE TOOK ACTION,SENDING CARDS TO OTHER KIDS.ASHER LIST GREW, SHE BROUGHT ONHER PARTNER.>> IT'S LIKE SIMPLE STUFF, ANDWE DO HAVE A GOFUNDME PAGE SETUP.THAT'S WHERE MOST OF OURDONATIONS COME FROM, BECAUSEWEWERE ORIGINALLY USING OUR OWNMONEY, OUR BABY-SITTING MONEY,BIRTHDAYMONEY.>> NICE!>> USUALLY KIDS ARE SO WRAPPEDUP IN THEIR OWN LIVES, BUT TOTAKE A STEP BACKAND SEE PEOPLEIN NEED, IT'S JUST --IT'S --THEY'RE WISE BEYOND THEIR YEARS.WE CAN'T THANK THEMENOUGH.REPORTER: THEY TAKE SUBMISSIONSONLINE.

Best friends send packages to kid with illnesses

A 6th grader from Franklin and 10th grader from North Andover cheer up children battling illnesses

Two best friends from Massachusetts are sending smiles through the mail to kids in the fight of their lives.

Sixth-grader Mirabella Carrara and 10th-grader Alexa Pascucci may differ in age, but they're alike in other ways. For one, they have big hearts.

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They call their effort Packages for Kid Fighters. On this day, they're putting together a gift for a little girl with tissue cancer.

They send packages to children battling all kinds of illnesses, Mirabella said. "Maybe kids with mito (Mitochondrial disease), kids with cancer, kids with a disease called spinal muscular atrophy," she said.

Malia Jusczyk, who had stage 4 neuroblastoma, met the girls when they took part in a 5-K to Crush Cancer to benefit a foundation set up by her family. They greeted Malia with a package.

WCVB

Packages For Kid Fighters

Her father, Glenn Jusczyk, said, "It really sticks, like, she has a picture of them, you know, at the race."

Glenn Jusczyk described his daughter’s brave battle with cancer. "It spread from the primary tumor site to her bone marrow, to her cranium, to her femur,” he said. “So, it was all over her body."

Declared cancer free in 2012, Malia's still part of an ongoing drug trial. The one word she had for how the girls made her feel was "happy."

Mirabella started the project. She was treated for a tumor as a baby, and a hospital check-up when she was 9 years old stuck with her.

She took action, first sending cards to other kids, but as her list grew, she brought on her partner.

"Even though it's like simple stuff, it can really brighten their days, and we do have a Go Fund Me page set up. We were originally using our own money, our babysitting money, our catsitting money, our birthday money," Alexa said.

Alexa and Mirabella answer requests from across the country. They take submissions online here.